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Marriott and Starwood Link Loyalty Programs

The merging deal of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts is finally finished. The historic deal has given birth to a giant hotel company with 30 brands and 5,700 hotels operating in 110 countries with more than 1.1 million guestrooms in total. Naturally, members of loyalty programs of the above-mentioned brands were worried about the points accumulated.

President and CEO Arne Sorenson cleared the situation. Members of Starwood Preferred Guest program can link their accounts to Marriott Rewards program using a special microsite. Members will get three Marriott points for every point owned in Starwood Preferred Guest program. The status in the new loyalty program will be matched as well. With the addition of SPG members, Marriott Rewards program now boasts tremendous 85 million members.

Starwood stocks are no longer traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and shareholders will get Marriott stocks instead of Starwood common stocks. Starwood also owns 24 hotels; these hotels will be sold, and the hotelier hopes to keep acting as a managing company. Leaders of the newly merged company are very enthusiastic about development of Marriott Hotels and plan to grow all 30 brands. Naturally, merging of two big hotel companies implies a lot of work, including back-end technology development, so Marriott promises new and bigger platform to be added in future.